Star Gazer is partially hidden by the red crane toward the lower left.

On the 3^rd we traveled across the bay and south to Baltimore. Like Philadelphia but unlike most other downtown marinas in big cities we had no problem reserving space at the city dock. Now we’re the only boat here. The price is right as well. We discussed it the night before we came here and all thought it would be fun.

Ladies in the back on the way to Baltimore

Awhile back while the Freddy Gray stuff was happening I plunked myself down in several randomly picked areas of Baltimore via Google Maps street view to get a feel for the city. Maybe I picked the worst places, but everything I saw looked abandoned and dilapidated. Not a bit of green anywhere. From what we’ve heard lately, downtown is be very different.

We’ve just entered the Baltimore inner harbor. We docked at the far end.

We went 12 miles west from the main Chesapeake Bay to get to a smaller channel and then 3 miles up that to the far west end of the “Inner Harbor”. The Inner Harbor is roughly square and small, about 1300 feet on a side. It holds several historic ships and a WWII submarine on the north side and a moderate sized marina on the south. On the west end is the city dock and places for a couple of tourist boats to park.

Maybe the largest railroad museum we’ve seen is a moderate walk to the west.

The fallout from the riots and related problems must be keeping people away. There are good reasons to stay away from a lot of this city, but this harbor is so small and is tucked right in the center of downtown and close to some of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the city. It seems very secure with plenty of police presence. Everything is clean, neat, and in the commercial part mostly new. Some of the row houses nearby look old but are well tended.

The entire crew at the Baltimore City Dock in the evening.

There is a large aquarium, lots of shopping for the women and a big Barnes and Noble built into a giant old steam plant just across the plaza. It’s going to take awhile to see all this, and it appears we can stay as long as we want.